The concept of a multidisciplinary approach to cancer care is not new. In 1977, Bernard Fisher quite rightly stressed the role of surgery as just one aspect of comprehensive cancer care when he stated that “Surgery makes its contribution to cancer treatment in concert with other modalities. Advances in the treatment of cancer will derive from improved orchestration with the other modalities rather than from improved operative technique alone.” The tremendous advancements in technology along with a better understanding of the molecular basis of cancer have exposed a myriad array of new possibilities in cancer prevention, diagnosis and therapy, blurring the lines between medical disciplines and making multidisciplinary collaboration vital. This brief glimpse at the complicated nature of cancer emphasizes the inadequacy of unimodal cancer therapy and the unprecedented need for collaboration across specialties. Use of thoracoscopic and laparoscopic techniques may avoid unnecessary laparotomy in 20% of patients through improved staging accuracy, allow therapeutic resections with less morbidity and facilitate placement of feeding access or palliative procedures. For example, laparoscopic surgical resections for colorectal cancer have demonstrated better short-term outcomes, lower morbidity and equivalent survival. All cancer care specialists, including surgical oncologists must remain at the forefront of such scientific research and clinical trials in order to integrate these potential therapeutic options into everyday patient care and improve outcomes. The convergence of the rapidly expanding knowledge regarding the molecular biology of cancer and the tremendous technological advancements in medicine have provided clinicians from multiple subspecialties with new tools and innovative ways to combat cancer. Cancer is a complex disease that requires a cognitive, multi-faceted, strategic approach which transcends the artificial boundaries between the various medical and surgical disciplines.